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Authorities double check DNA tests

Crematory investigation

Posted: Wednesday, July 24, 2002

By Associated Press

NOBLE -- DNA tests indicate one of the bodies discarded at Tri-State Crematory was sent there in 1995 -- a year before Ray Brent Marsh, the only person charged in the corpse-dumping scandal, took charge.

But officials are skeptical of the match because the remains tested had dentures. The family whose DNA matched the corpse sent a relative with a full set of natural teeth to the crematory.

Authorities have put all other DNA testing in the crematory investigation on hold while they clear up the confusion.

''That's a very important question that has to be answered,'' said Dr. Kris Sperry, Georgia's chief medical examiner.

Marsh took over the crematory in 1996 from his parents, Ray and Clara Marsh. Verification that a body was dumped before 1996 could mean other people could be charged, investigators have said.

Marsh is jailed on 381 felony charges -- 316 counts of theft by deception for accepting money for cremations he never performed, and 65 counts of abuse of a body. His next bail hearing is scheduled Thursday.

The test that showed a preliminary match was performed by the Armed Forces DNA Laboratory in Maryland. But it showed only a weak probability of a match, said David Ashburn, the Walker County emergency management director.

''It wasn't conclusive enough to take to court,'' county Coroner Dewayne Wilson said.

Of more than 340 sets of human remains recovered from the crematory, just 176 have been identified, including 21 through DNA analysis. DNA testing probably will resume this week, Sperry said.

At a news conference earlier this week, investigators rejected claims by some victims that investigators do not want to make any pre-1996 identifications because they do not want to spend money for more testing.

''We have enough money to do 600 more tests if we need to,'' Sperry said. ''Money is not, nor has it ever been an issue. No one has ever asked me to cut corners.''